The Auld Lang Syne Showdown
by RJ1013
Summary: Sheldon hosts a New Year's Eve get together. That's sure to go well, right? One-shot. Shamy, Lenny, and all the canon couples.


The Auld Lang Syne Showdown

by RJ1013

Summary: Sheldon hosts a New Year's Eve get together. That's sure to go well, right?

One-shot. Shamy, Lenny, and all the canon couples.

Rating: T

Spoilers: Up to and including "The Opening Night Excitation"

Disclaimer: Characters from TBBT have been used without permission. I took good care of them, though.

* * *

I.

* * *

Leonard knows that it is unwise to pose a question like this to Sheldon, but he does it anyway. "Is that really necessary?"

Sheldon is eyeballing a syringe that he is filling with hot, freshly-brewed coffee. He holds it up to check the volume of the liquid inside, and he must be satisfied with it because he squirts the contents into a yellow mug. Unsure of what particular brand of madness is at work today, Leonard kind of wishes he could call back his question. Unfortunately, it's too late for that now because Sheldon has already started answering.

"Most definitely. If my calculations are correct—and they always are—then I should consume exactly two point two fluid ounces of coffee. Doing so will provide twenty-six and one-eighth grams of caffeine. For a man my size with minimal previous caffeine usage, it should keep me awake until precisely 12:45 a.m. and no later."

"You didn't think that through so well, did you?" Penny asks, glancing at Leonard with one raised eyebrow.

Sheldon must think that she is addressing him because he is the one who responds. "Of course I did, Penny, weren't you paying attention? I've been informed about the social relevance of gathering together to celebrate on New Years Eve, but I can't have it interfering too much with my normal schedule. It's essential to have an adequate number of REM cycles for optimal cognitive functioning."

"Then I'm surprised you aren't planning to kick us all out at 12:01. Why wait until 12:45? Won't that cost you more of your precious beauty sleep?" Penny asks.

Leonard is wondering the same thing. Sheldon takes a moment to gulp down his measured dose of coffee, a motion that reminds Leonard of how a normal person might drink a shot of alcohol.

"It's not 'beauty sleep'," he answers after setting down his mug. "For some of us, it's 'brilliance sleep'. And I'll have you know that I've built that extra time into my plan largely out of politeness. It's to account for the requisite social niceties and pleasantries at the time of everyone's departure."

Penny's facial expression takes on a look of incredulity. Her eyebrows are making a valiant effort to crawl up into her hairline. She seems speechless, so Leonard steps in to ask, "Since when do you care about 'pleasantries'?"

"Oh, come on now, surely you've noticed my growing attempts to placate the lesser minds that surround me. I know I've pointed it out to you before. I ask you about your day and how your work is going, and I do so even though I know it all pales in comparison to the relevance of my own life. It's an even greater challenge to feign interest in the lives of Wolowitz and Koothrappali."

"If this conversation is any indication, then you may need to work on the 'pleasant' part of your attempts at pleasantries," Penny suggests.

Sheldon sighs. "Amy tells me the same. I'm still not fully adept at engaging in humdrum, idle chit-chat. She says I'm not faking sincerity well enough."

"Well, that girl is right. And speaking of Amy, are you counting her among the 'lesser minds' that surround you?"

"Of course not, don't be absurd. As if I would ever initiate coitus with a lesser mind..." Sheldon scoffs and shakes his head as if to chastise her for even suggesting such a thing.

After much debate, both Leonard and Penny previously came to agree that they would not question Sheldon about his recent forays into physical intimacy with Amy. Despite the fact that neither of them have ever brought up the subject in conversation, by Leonard's count this marks the tenth time that Sheldon himself has brought up the topic since it happened two weeks ago. For someone who once claimed to find physical intimacy abhorrent, Sheldon's mind sure does seem to start skipping merrily down that path quite a lot these days.

Penny's face is perking up with nosy interest, but he shoots her his very best look of horror to remind her about their agreement. It is not a good idea to ask Sheldon about this kind of thing. He doesn't think that he would divulge anything, but there is no reason to leave it to chance. Kind of like the knowledge that his own parents used to have sex, this is not a subject for which Leonard wants further details. He can't quite suppress a shudder.

It's unclear whether Sheldon even notices their nonverbal exchange. He continues, "You know, Amy isn't the greatest at feigning sincere interest at times either. She even yawned during the new Star Wars movie. Can you believe that?"

"Absolutely. I do believe," Penny answers, her voice flat with her own disinterest.

Appearing undeterred by her lack of enthusiasm, Sheldon continues to ponder the topic of social mores. "Maybe Bernadette could provide some tips. She must have to pretend to be interested in Howard's life and meaningless work all the time. And they're married, so she must be quite good at it by now."

"Don't worry about it, buddy. Everyone who's coming over tonight pretty much knows how you are. The last thing anyone will be expecting is for you to be some kind of polite, social butterfly. In fact, it'd probably creep them out if you were at all convincing," Leonard says, trying to sound soothing.

"Yeah. They'll be expecting you to be more like a pesky fly than a happy butterfly," Penny adds.

Sheldon turns to the sink and begins to rinse out his coffee paraphernalia. "That's nonsense. I'm a delight, and you're all lucky to get to bask in my presence."

Leonard smiles at his friend's unwavering confidence in his own greatness. He sees Penny smiling too. She clears her throat and asks, "As long as we're on the subject of pretending to enjoy things, just what do you have planned for this evening's entertainment?"

* * *

II.

* * *

"It's not too late to throw myself down this flight of stairs and lightly sprain an ankle," Howard offers as he and Bernadette take the final few steps to stand at the door to 4A.

"Come on, Howie, it's not going to be that bad. Sheldon's almost human these days, or at least he's acting like a reasonable facsimile of one. I'm sure this party will be fine. Besides, aren't you interested to see how Sheldon and Amy are doing now that they're together again? And I do mean together," Bernadette says with knowing glee while gently elbowing his ribs.

God, no. Howard isn't interested in that at all. In fact, if he could scrub the knowledge that those two have engaged in coitus from his brain, he would happily do so. The idea of Sheldon and Amy going at it gives him the same uncomfortable, nauseating sensation that he remembers having when he first realized that his mother must have had sex at least once to conceive him. Yuck.

Bernadette is looking all romantic and sappy at the idea of Shamy canoodling, so Howard decides he'll have to play along. "I suppose it'll be fine. I mean, at least we can count on Penny to provide a full bar service, right?" Resigned to his fate, he reaches up and knocks on the door.

When the door swings open, it is Sheldon's face that greets them. "You're four minutes late, Howard," he says in lieu of a proper hello.

"Sorry, it took a little while to fend off the urge to hurl myself down the stairs."

It's a bit hyperbolic, but not entirely untruthful. He sees Sheldon roll his eyes while he gestures for them to enter. Howard is pleased to see that he and Bernadette are the last to arrive. He's not sure he wants to be at a party hosted by Sheldon Cooper for any longer than necessary. To his even greater relief, he spots several bottles of liquor lined up like brave soldiers in the kitchen.

Sheldon's guests are all gathered near the alcohol, chatting and pouring beverages. Howard imagines that they share in his plan to begin the evening by saying hello to Mr. Jack Daniels. He and Bernadette belly up to the kitchen island and Penny pushes a mixed drink towards each of them. Howard gives Penny a sideways look, and she nods, wordless, before pouring a little extra whiskey his way.

It isn't long before their lanky host summons them all over into the living room. Rearranging the furniture will probably piss Sheldon off, but Howard doesn't let that stop him from dragging a stool over with him. Raj follows his lead. Penny and Leonard sit side by side in the armchair and desk chair while Emily, Bernadette, Amy, and Sheldon all sit on the couch. The stool is a big improvement over sitting on the floor. Seeing Sheldon glaring his way with an irritated look from time to time is an added bonus.

"Now, I'm sure you've all gone over the email memo I sent out," Sheldon begins.

If deleting it without reading it counts as going over it, then Howard supposes he did. He nods along with Amy, Raj, Emily, and Penny.

"Great. Then you all know that I have suggested we spend the evening with some board games. However, I have also left this evening to chance in the same spirit as our classic 'Anything can happen Thursday'. I am open to any suggestions for games."

Howard loves to play board games. Maybe tonight won't be a total disaster after all. Then he remembers Bernadette. She is less fond of gaming, but when she does partake she tends to be a rather… fierce competitor. Oh well, it should still make for an interesting evening. Raj and Leonard also look enthusiastic at the idea of ringing in the New Year with some games, but the four women look like they might need a bit more convincing.

Sheldon leaps up and carries a stack of boxes from his desk over to the coffee table. "I have _Settlers of Catan, Agricola, Puerto Rico, Carcassonne, Netrunner, 7 Wonders, Power Grid,_ and _Axis & Allies._"

With an expression of longing on his face, Raj says, "Dude, I wish we had enough hours to play them all."

The smiles on the guys' faces all widen at the amazing assortment of options, but the flat expressions on the ladies' faces remain. "I'm not familiar with any of those," says Penny.

"Do you have anything more mainstream?" asks Emily.

"I like Monopoly," Bernadette squeaks. Howard sees Sheldon's eye twitch at the idea of having to play some kind of pedestrian, everyday game.

"You did say that today would be akin to 'Anything can happen Thursday'," Amy reminds him. The twitching stops when she sets her hand on his knee.

He sighs. "Indeed, I did. The games I have here are all fantastic, but other, more inferior suggestions are welcome."

"I have some decks of cards and some poker chips that I can go grab," Penny offers.

Sheldon makes his ridiculous little gasping laugh.

"What?" Penny asks, sounding irritated at the dismissive chuckle.

"Oh Penny, you sweet summer child, poker is a game of mathematical skills. The need to calculate probabilities for each scenario in order to make the optimal play is essential. You would all be at a distinct disadvantage to myself."

Howard sees everyone in the room turn to glare at Sheldon. To his surprise, the guy actually seems to notice that everyone is annoyed at him. "What? It's true. Or perhaps I should be more inclusive and say that those of us with higher mathematical abilities will be unfairly advantaged."

Penny scoffs. "Poker may be a game of skill and odds, but it's also a game about people making decisions and the emotions that go with that. Your math is all well and good, but you won't have complete information to make use of, will you?"

Sheldon starts to look less sure of himself. Penny doesn't give him a chance to respond before she fires one final bullet. "How are you at reading people and interpreting body language, Sheldon?"

He slouches back into his seat, looking even more uncertain. Howard can just barely hear it when he whispers, "Uh-oh."

* * *

III.

* * *

Penny returns a few minutes later with a case full of poker chips. "We got this chipset in Vegas. It was a complimentary gift from the wedding chapel," she explains as she divides the chips into eight equal stacks.

"What's the game going to be? Stud, Draw, Hold 'em, Omaha, Razz?" asks Amy. She picks up a deck of cards and does a few tidy riffle shuffles with a bridge finish. Everyone turns to stare at her. Penny wonders where the hell Amy's poker knowledge is coming from. It's not the kind of skill that she expects someone like Amy to possess, nor is her dextrous shuffling ability.

"Do you have some hidden gambling habits that you'd like to share with us all?" asks Bernadette with an inquisitive lilt.

"Yeah, is that why you are so short of funds that you thrift shop for hosiery?" asks Raj.

"What? Oh, no. I don't gamble, and I'm certainly not short on funds. Thrift shopping is all about the joy of finding a bargain. Anyway, my mother made sure that I was proficient at the basic forms of poker. She did not want me to ever be a loser in a game of strip poker. You see, somehow she got it into her head that college would be rife with young men who would do anything to get me out of my cardigans." Amy gives a half-hearted chuckle before she finishes her story, "She was wrong. So, so wrong."

Sheldon looks at her askance. "What is the purpose of strip poker? Why would anyone want to play a card game in the altogether?"

Not wanting to risk hearing a detailed answer from Amy, Penny dives in, "Sheldon, sweetie, I'm sure Amy can explain that to you later. For now, let's just get to the game at hand. I vote that we do a basic no-limit Texas hold 'em. I think most of us are familiar with the rules of that."

Penny looks around and sees her friends all nodding or saying 'yes' in agreement. Sheldon also voices his assent. "Very well. I suppose Penny's alcoholic contribution has already lent the evening a certain saloon-like quality. However, I will warn you that I have no intention of forfeiting my garments over this, and I'll thank you all to do the same."

"No one wants to see you and your pants part ways, Sheldon," jokes Leonard. Penny sees Amy smirk and raise an eyebrow, but her friend holds back on offering any verbal objection. Instead, she deals out the first hand of cards.

Emily examines her hand and raises. "This game does have a very old west feel to it, doesn't it? It really makes me long to have a Colt pistol strapped to my hip so that I can challenge my foes to a bloody duel."

The hand quickly folds around to Sheldon who's the big blind. Wide-eyed, he also tosses his cards away before shifting his body to hide behind Amy. Penny doesn't think he even looked at his cards. She understands his inclination to hide, though. Emily is a bit scary sometimes.

Threats of violence aside, the game goes fairly well. Sheldon looks perplexed at a lot of the decisions that the others are making. Penny, on the other hand, finds that everyone's play style seems to mirror their personalities quite a bit.

Emily is aggressive with her betting and makes any hand that she enters into a crazy experience. Bernadette is initially cautious, but once she gets going, she is almost as nuts as Emily. Amy and Leonard are so quietly predictable with their decisions that it is obvious where they stand in any given hand. They might as well play with their cards stuck face up. Sheldon is the most cautious of all and folds pre-flop the vast majority of the time. For the time being, it is easiest to avoid being in hands where he raises. Penny finds that she likes to mix it up. It's fun to be wild with some hands and then conservative with others. She suspects that being unpredictable will make her a tremendous nuisance over time.

Howard and Raj are both early casualties to Emily and Bernadette's aggressive lines. They appear unperturbed by their losses and shift their attentions to Sheldon's pile of games. It looks like they settle on something called _Carcassonne,_ whatever the hell that is.

Inevitably, Emily and Bernadette clash in a big pot. Bernadette is a huge favorite to win, but when the turn and river are flipped, Emily emerges victorious. In a fit of pique, Bernadette tosses her losing cards in the air, where they flutter and float to the ground like two oversized pieces of confetti. She continues to mutter curses under her breath while she gets out her phone and starts playing Candy Crush.

Down to five players, Emily continues to steamroll the competition. Amy and Leonard are her next victims. Like Bernadette, they lose due to poor luck. Unlike Bernadette, they handle their losses with dignity. Amy shrugs and pulls out a bag of knitting while Leonard goes and joins the guys to play some board games.

A few minutes later, Emily's over-aggression finally comes back to bite her. She loses several big hands in a row to bust out, two to Sheldon and three to Penny. "That was fun," she says, sounding happy in spite of the fact that Penny is sweeping all of her chips into her own stack. "I may have lost, but at least I got to leave a trail of chaos and carnage behind me. What more could a girl want?"

When she hops up and walks over to the kitchen, Penny sees Sheldon pull his legs back and nudge himself behind Amy again, probably trying to keep the crazy redhead from brushing against his knees on her way by.

"She's joking," Amy whispers. "Well, probably. But what are you doing using me as a shield anyway?"

"You're brandishing weapons," he whispers back, casting a glance at Amy's large knitting needles.

She smiles and sets down her knitting on her lap before stretching an arm over to rub soft circles on his upper back. "Okay, Sheldon, I'll be your knight in woolen armor."

Penny snickers at the mental image of Sheldon as a damsel in distress being rescued by a tiny, bespectacled ball of cardigans wielding knitting needles. "Amy is right. You have nothing to fear from Emily. Most likely." She deals out the next hand and adds, "I, however, still intend to destroy you."

Just as she suspected, Sheldon perks up again at the challenge. "Oh, you can try, but probability is on my side."

Penny shrugs. "Probability was on Amy's side, as well as Leonard's and Bernadette's. Even at the best of times, luck remains an important factor. But even if it wasn't, I'd still beat you."

Sheldon opens his mouth in an apparent attempt to retort, but he is interrupted by the sound of his watch alarm. It's 11:55 p.m. He doesn't continue his verbal joust with Penny, but reaches for his laptop and calls over all of his friends instead.

"Okay everyone, gather around. I find that the broadcast network's replay of the Times Square ball drop can be off by several seconds. So instead of suffering through such inaccuracy, I've set us up with this website. It's synchronized with atomic clock time."

Penny's not at all surprised by Sheldon's nitpicking. Of course he would be obsessive enough to make sure that they celebrate at the exact moment that the clock strikes midnight. Leonard opens a bottle of sparkling wine and quickly pours some into eight small glasses. She helps him distribute the beverages, and even Sheldon accepts a glass.

With one minute left to go, Penny feels Leonard slide his free arm around her waist to tug her in close to his body. This will be their first New Year's as husband and wife, but it doesn't feel new to her. Being with Leonard feels just as comfortably familiar as it has in other years gone by. The only thing unfamiliar about this scenario is seeing Sheldon and Amy cuddled so close together on the couch. She wouldn't have thought that Sheldon would allow for public displays of affection. Maybe he is being lenient on account of the holiday.

When the digital time readout flips to 12:00:00, Penny leans in to Leonard's soft kiss. She breaks away only to offer him a happy smile, and she sees his jubilant grin in return. But as she begins to move in for another kiss, his grin suddenly contorts into a startled snort, and she turns to see what has distracted him.

On the couch, Sheldon and Amy are kissing. Penny supposes that it is passionate in a dorky, awkward, tongueless kind of way. For Amy's sake, she hopes that Sheldon made a little more use of his tongue a few weeks ago.

She clinks her glass sharply to Leonard's and watches as the pair break apart, startled. Their cheeks both turn pink with embarrassment, even though the other couples aren't paying any attention to them at all. Penny is tempted to tell them that no one cares if they kiss, that it's no big deal. But watching them both flounder and be shy about it is way too adorable to interfere with.

The couple look relieved for the distraction when Bernadette starts drunkenly warbling 'Auld Lang Syne'. One by one, everyone joins her in singing the song.

When they finish, they go on to exchange wishes for a happy New Year. There are handshakes and hugs for all. Well, all except for Sheldon, who is once again shielding himself behind Amy. He offers a few waves, and Penny figures that's about as much affection as Sheldon is apt to ever give in a situation like this.

* * *

IV.

* * *

Half an hour later, Raj, Emily, Howard, and Bernadette have all said their goodbyes. Penny and Sheldon are still duking it out, each winning some hands of poker and losing others. She eyeballs his chip stack and figures that they are both about even.

As he deals out the next hand, Sheldon bumps Amy's shoulder. Her sleeping form tips towards him and her head flops over onto his shoulder. Her glasses look to be smashed uncomfortably up against her face, and Penny wonders why it doesn't wake her up. She stares at the display, watching and waiting for Sheldon to shake Amy off like a wet dog coming in out of the rain. It doesn't happen, though. Instead, he looks at her squished face with a half-smile and gently pulls her glasses off. He sets them next to his Rubik's cube kleenex box and then goes back to looking at his cards.

In a similar situation herself, Penny has a lap full of sleeping Leonard. He is snoring softly and she can only hope that he won't start drooling on her new outfit.

Reaching a mutual, unspoken understanding, they both quiet their banter to whispers. She hopes that her lowered voice still sounds somewhat intimidating when she trash talks. "Sheldon, you should just give up. You're never going to win."

"Why not?"

"Because you are too predictable. You tailor your bets to the strength of your hand. And even when you have something good, you back down too easily out of fear that it's not good enough."

"My bet sizes are perfect relative to the pot size and to the probable strength of your hand."

"Maybe so, but you also have no sense at all of the times when I'm bluffing."

He looks determined. His competitive streak must be pretty fierce. Penny wonders how much of it is due to him not wanting to lose to her specifically. "I'm not conceding this game to you," he insists.

Penny shrugs and offers her trump argument. "Fine, but your planned bedtime is less than fifteen minutes from now."

That gets him twitching. Amy's head slides down his arm to his elbow, but she still doesn't wake up. Sheldon plays a few hands very carefully with his free arm. It's kind of sweet that he's trying so hard not to jostle his girlfriend.

Eventually, despite his careful maneuvering, Amy does succumb to gravity, her head plopping down onto Sheldon's lap, her face mere inches from his groin. With wide eyes and a pronounced gulp, he looks down at her. Penny sucks her lips into her mouth and tries not to laugh at the expression on his face.

He clears his throat, but his voice still sounds gravelly when he says, "I'm just going to go tuck her in."

"Oh? Is a girl allowed to stay the night in your room?"

"Of course she is. She's Amy, and it's a holiday," he answers, as if that somehow explains everything. Penny shrugs. Maybe it does.

Sheldon squeezes himself out from underneath his girlfriend. He stands up straight and stretches for a moment before he bends back over to slide his arms beneath her sleeping form.

"Are you sure you're going to be able to lift her there, Romeo?"

"Certainly. Amy's really quite a bit smaller than she sometimes looks. I'd say she's a good fifteen percent cardigans by volume." Sure enough, Sheldon scoops her up easily and carries her into the other room.

He's gone for quite a while, and she decides to pass the time by poking at Leonard to see what he'll sleep through. Tapping his shoulder gets no reaction at all. Running her hand through his hair makes him smile a tiny bit. Tickling his nose makes him scrunch it up and snort. She wonders if stroking his ear with her finger will be enough to rouse him, but before she gets a chance to test it out, Sheldon returns to the room.

Unfortunately, her attempts to amuse herself have shifted Leonard's position such that his quiet snoring has become a loud rumble. "I guess I should tuck in my little Sleeping Beauty as well."

"You can lift him?"

Penny smiles. "Sure. He's part Hobbit, right? How heavy could he be?"

When she sweeps Leonard off his feet like a gender-reversed, romantic heroine, she wishes that she had enough hands to take a selfie. This would make a fantastic addition to next year's Christmas card.

* * *

V.

* * *

"It's 12:45," Penny informs Sheldon with a smirk.

Sheldon doesn't want to give up, but he can feel the heavy weight of his eyelids. His coffee calculations were spot on, of course. Still, he can't stand the idea of losing this game. Penny has made some good points about the dichotomy of poker, about the need for both analytical and interpersonal skills. Nevertheless, he feels a strong pull to prove that his mathematical and technical skills are the greater determining factor in who should emerge victorious.

The tempting specter of sleep beckons from the other room, but Sheldon shoves it aside once more and deals out another hand. Penny shakes her head and throws a raise into the pot. He looks down at a fantastic starting hand and re-raises. As usual, Penny calls. It is rare for her to back down and forfeit the pot without the benefit of seeing the flop.

Sheldon flops a flush, king high. Another round of betting ensues, and he is surprised that she doesn't even hesitate in calling his bets. To his dismay, when the river is dealt, it adds a fourth club to the board. If she holds the ace of clubs, she now has him beat.

He finds himself faced with the ultimate decision when she promptly pushes her remaining chips into the middle and stares at him. Sheldon remembers her earlier warning about how he backs down from a good situation too easily out of fear. But would she really make this move and risk losing it all when it would be so simple for him to have her beat?

He starts to reach for his remaining chips just as Penny begins to speak impatiently into the long silence. "You know what? This is ridiculous. I am wasting the first night of this new year with you when I could be curled up with my new husband."

Sheldon's dry eyes remind him that this ongoing battle was not a part of his plan for tonight either. Penny continues, "And, in spite of what must be an astronomically high unlikelihood, even _you_ have someone tucked into your bed. I mean, the odds of that happening must be incalculable, right?"

"Actually, we could probably make a reasonable estimate of the math. I met Amy in 2010 when the world's population was about 6.8 billion people. There is only one of her and one of me, but there are geographical and other factors—"

"Sheldon!" Penny interrupts. "You're missing the point! Why are we wasting our time on this meaningless game when we could be spending it with the ones we really want to be with?"

That's true enough. Sheldon never had any intention of spending his extra post-midnight minutes with Penny. She suggests a compromise. "Instead of either of us giving up, how about we both just call it a tie?"

As he starts to think it over, he sees a sloppy shadow emerge from his bedroom. "Sheldon?" Amy whispers, stifling a yawn. "Why am I dressed like R2-D2? And why does your room look like someone robbed the Toys 'R Us Star Wars section?"

Sheldon admires Amy's form in his new t-shirt. She folds her arms over her chest and scoots over to hide her legs behind the chair when she notices that Penny is also in the room.

"Hey Ames," Penny says with a wide-eyed snort. She seems surprised to see Amy in this makeshift nightgown, but Sheldon isn't sure why it would be considered weird.

"R2-D2 is my favorite little droid, and those are not toys, they are pieces of collectible movie memorabilia," he explains in answer to Amy's questions.

"Purchased at a toy store," Penny adds.

He ignores the comment. "Anyway, we have decided to call our game a tie, so I'll be in just as soon as we clean up."

Continuing to look dazed and sleepy, Amy mutters, "Okay." She then turns and stumbles back towards his room.

Sheldon scoops up the chips and starts putting them into the case. He's eager to get to bed, but he's not a heathen, so he sorts them by color before putting them into the appropriate slots. He looks up when he notices that Penny has not started to put away the cards. She smirks at him and slowly turns over the hand that he had been about to call.

It's the six of spades and the seven of hearts. She had flopped two pair but did not succeed at making a full house to beat his flush. In that instant, he realizes that Penny's little truce was actually one final bluff. No!

"Happy New Year, Sheldon," she taunts him as she scoops up the remnants of their game.

* * *

—

* * *

Notes:

This story is for tsnt100, who requested a New Year's Eve story.

'Sweet summer child' is a _Game of Thrones_ reference that implies that the one being addressed is naive, for they have not yet experienced a winter.

I've been missing the group episodes on the show, so I thought I'd write a little version of my own. I hope you all found it amusing. Have a great 2016!


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